Something to Think About
a blog on end of life
I'm sorry to say when a family member is dying it can bring us together and be our finest hour as a family or it can bring out the worse...
Yes, love of life and fear of death are a part of our personality expression as is our fear of life. In Gone From My Sight I was making a point of...
We do this all the time. We enter tense situations where people are frightened and unsure, with people who have never seen us before. This is what we do: We create...
Dementia is like a road map with many, many roads that eventually lead into a city. Each road is different, each road is of varying lengths and offers various views...
There have been many changes in hospice care since it began. Some for the better, some not so much. What I am suggesting as representing a “good” hospice is becoming...
You have to walk the walk before you can talk the talk. Learn from your patient/family interactions. At the same time read everything you can get your hands on...
We often think because a person is facing the end of their life we have to do whatever they want us to, regardless of how it affects us. We treat...
COPD is a very challenging disease. A patient can look and feel like they are dying right now and still feel that way 10 years later. Because of this it...
Living with someone who has dementia is a daily challenge. It requires the constant reminder that this person is not who they once were. It presents the challenge of learning...
I know “dying of a broken heart” is used frequently when death comes as a result of a tragic life event. I’m not sure that is actually why the person...
Is life worth living with all this assistance? For some it will be, for others is won’t...
Treating people with a cold professionalism vs. treating them as children is either end of a spectrum of respect for a patient’s personhood. Cold professionalism can be as dehumanizing as...
The bottom line is that no one can possibly imagine the ongoing challenges of living with and caring for a person with dementia until they find themselves caring for a...
People with unpleasant personalities while living will still have unpleasant personalities while dying. It is just that the closer to death they get, the less energy they will have to...
